When Evil Takes Root (15) : Destiny City is always being expanded and renovated, so controlled forest fires and forest demolition are common enough. And yet, the forests seem bigger. Darker. There’s no logical explanation to it, but logic has nothing to do with it if you pay enough attention. Sometimes, the trees seem to move--more than just how the wind manipulates them. Sometimes, a particularly mangled tree with sharp bark and long, clawlike branches will stand out amongst the others. It isn’t always in the same place, and it isn’t always alone. They can look like normal trees–until they don’t. And by the time you notice, you’re too close to stop them. In the blink of an eye, they’re upon you. They don’t quite run as much as they do slither, and their branches are always longer than they appear. Especially when they are slashing at you or trying to squeeze you. Some of the trees have strangely human shapes molded into them, covered in dark bark. Hopefully it’s just your imagination but you really shouldn’t try to find out what happens if one of them manages to catch you. Any area with one of these trees will feel unnaturally heavy, and when they have congregated it feels exhausting, as if they are draining the energy right out of the air–and you. They fear only fire and seem to feel pain; if you hack at their branches or peel their bark, they bleed. If in too much danger, they will flee into the trees. Once you lose sight of them, it’s impossible to find them again–unless they want you to.
Sonora was not, by her own general perception, a particularly bold or courageous person. Sure, she did okay at standing up to Cryptomelane, lately, and making sure that he didn't get to do whatever heinous things he thought he needed to do to keep his position in the Negaverse, but that wasn't exactly...general bravery. More often, she preferred to avoid conflict and threats and just...vibe. Live her life. Help people where she could.
But the stories of strangeness in the forest--that had motivated her to explore. There was apparently some threat in the woods, some kind of...evil trees, if the whispers of the scared girl that had come into Lavender Haze looking for calming and protection were to be believed. And Sonora believed her, because magic was real and evil was real, and probably it was some kind of weird youma.
So she'd gone trudging into the woods, determined to hunt the creatures down and maybe find a way to deal with them--and she'd gotten...well. Lucky? Unlucky? She wasn't sure. But she sure had found the evil trees, and they sure were not youma.
She'd run for a while, and gotten some scrapes and cuts for her trouble--and then she'd fallen. Tripped on a root and twisted her ankle, and the only thing she'd thought to do was summon her magic and hope they would get bored and turn away when they couldn't get to her.
They hadn't gotten bored. And now, on the ground in the middle of her shimmering, golden protective dome, she could see them, out there--scratching, prodding, waiting.
As soon as her magic ran out, they'd come for her, and she wasn't sure how far she could run. Not when her ankle was throbbing like crazy..
But she could feel an Eternal aura nearby. Maybe--?
["HELP," Sonora shouted, at the top of her lungs, and prayed that whoever it was, they were inclined to do so.
Quote:
Magic: Sonora focuses, and around her, a circle of orchids blooms in a 10-foot radius, and a dome of shimmering golden light (10ft high at the apex) covers the area. Within the dome is a sanctuary; those with hostile intentions may not enter, and hostile behavior while within the sanctuary will result in being ejected. At Squire stage, Sonora can channel for 35 seconds.
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2024 7:37 pm
Tonight had started out quiet, but like most things, it did not stay that way.
Patrolling her usual downtown and university area had led to Ida finding a youma hiding out waiting for students. The darkness it had hidden in had made it hard to pin down, and when she startled it, had led to a chase. Which dragged out across half the city, taking Ida far outside her normal patrol zone. By the time she'd managed to corner the thing behind a gas station and a fenced in truck yard, she was nearly on the edge of town. At last it was done and the youma was dusted, but it left Ida looking out at the dark forest off that side of the city, the tall pine trees crowding in close around the highway that headed out of DC.
The oddity had come when the youma's energy signature had winked out... and she could suddenly sense a Squire, not nearby, but... out there, in the trees. Strangely alone... Ida couldn't really imagine why a squire would be out there. Maybe it was someone who just loved nature? But that felt like something you could explore without needing to power up. She'd never heard of an Earth Knight having a wonder anywhere near the city, so it probably wasn't that either... but the dark, towering shapes of the trees gave her a bad feeling. Illogical as it was, they just seemed to... loom, in a sinister sort of way. Like they were waiting... unseen eyes watching her. Movement caught her peripheral vision, but when she turned to look, everything was still.
Until a cry for help came from between the trees. It galvanized Ida immediately and she broke out into a run for the tree line, her senses stretched as wide open as they would go to search for the squire signature she could feel. That cry had to be the squire... and if it wasn't, she couldn't imagine that the Squire was also on their way to help. The trees seemed to close in around her as the senshi passed between them, cutting off the view of the gas station within a few yards and darkening the area around her to a half-gloam. Up ahead, there was a soft golden glow that drew Ida onwards, pulling her like a magnet. The glow resolved itself into a dome of light, surrounded by flowers... and outside of that barrier, trees. That moved in a slithery, uncomfortable way. There was something very not right about them, and it set Ida's nerves on edge.
Without thought, she kidded to a halt in the leaf litter and threw up an arm, trailing glowing petals behind her hand.
"Heavenly Orchid Arrows!" Ida called as she closed her hand around those petals, now condensed into the shape of a bow. As she lifted it and pulled back the string, an glowing arrow sprung to life between her hands. When she released it, it roared as it tore through the space between her and the trees, exploding in a flash and rush of air between the swaying trunks, throwing at least one of them back and away from the shimmering dome.
Sonora recognized the person that arrived to back her up. She'd seen her, briefly, at the museum--had seen her grown wings and attack with those same orchid arrows. Orchid arrows, like the symbol all over Sonora's outfit.
This was--this was Ida.
What a way to meet her planet's Princess. Huddling within her magic's protective shield while being menaced by trees of all things. The irony of being under attack by plants wasn't lost on her, but it wasn't as if she could help that the trees were...possessed or whatever.
They had to be, right? That was the only reason trees might react as if they were in pain, especially since they weren't youma or anything.
Butt he good news was, they seemed to be able to feel pain, and able to retreat from it, and Ida's shot had them backing off, enough that Sonora lowered her dome and darted over to the Princess's side.
"Hi," she said, "thank you for saving me, I'm Sonora, you're Princess Ida, aren't you? I saw you at the museum. I don't fight very well, do you think you could shoot them again? Make them go away?
A lot of words, spewing out all at once in a panic.
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2024 8:06 pm
The attack was the distraction the squire needed to drop her protections and flee from between the trees. It was gratifying that she ran directly to Ida's side, which was where Ida would have wanted her to if she'd had any way of telepathically sharing the 'plan' with the other girl. They were safer together away from the trees, and if she was close, it was easier to cover her.
"What? Oh! I think I saw you at the museum too!" Ida replied in startled surprise, her attention torn between her new companion and the trees as they recovered and regrouped themselves. Almost like they were thinking... trying to figure out their next plan of attack. How had the girl, Sonora, known who she was? Someone else had likely told her, of course, that was logical enough... or maybe she was clever enough to piece it together from the sparse clues of the orchids on Ida's uniform and her own orchid symbols. Either way, Ida wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it... beyond feeling that those feelings needed to be put away in their box until after the current threat was dealt with.
Ida threw up her arm again as the trees began to surge towards them, calling up the magic arrows to push them back with another explosion of force.
"I've only got one more, so maybe it would be best if we ran, yeah?" She said as she glanced over at her companion, still finding the sight of her colors strange and strangely thrilling, even after all this time and the other knights of Ida she had met. She reached for Sonora's elbow and gave her a gentle nudge back towards... what Ida assumed was the way out of the forest, even if part of her nagged with uncertainty. It was just all so dark in here... it was hard to tell which way truly led out. But, hopefully, their powered speed would be an advantage here. The trees didn't move that quickly... they stood a good shot of out-pacing them.
Sonora was not ashamed of tucking herself a little bit behind Ida--clearly this was someone way more experienced than her, if she had been chosen as a Princess. However that worked. It wasn't like Sonora really understood it.
"Yeah, you were really cool there," she said, which was the honest truth. "I would have said hi then, but I was busy trying to help out a friend." She was not going to clarify that Cryptomelane was on the other side. Maybe he wouldn't be forever.
Anyway, Princess Ida had magic that actually seemed to be working to drive the trees back and away, but if she only had one more shot, hanging around seemed like a really, really bad idea.
"Yeah, running sounds good," she agreed. Hopefully they would actually be able to get out, because these stupid woods were such a maze. But they couldn't be that far from the city. It was so big and sprawling, surely they just had to...pick a direction and go. Which, with Ida urging her in a particular one, Sonora absolutely did, not bothering to glance back to see if those trees were following them.
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2024 7:59 pm
Cool... Ida felt her face heat, but she shoved the embarrassment down ruthlessly as Sonora began to run. Following close on her heels, she tried to keep her mind on what they were doing, rather than go over every detail of what she'd done in the museum trying to figure out if she'd done anything particularly embarrassing in front of this girl. None of that had bothered her before, but now that she knew someone had been watching her, it was hard not to. Even while the crashing sound of evil trees in pursuit sounded behind them.
"I think we were all too busy for niceties!" She agreed, glancing back long enough to search the still trees behind them for movement. There was thrashing and shaking branches, but they did seem to be putting space between them and those... things. They didn't seem to be able to dodge between the non-moving trees as quickly as Ida and the squire could. A break in the tree line ahead gave off light that drew Ida onwards, growing as they got closer... and then the pair burst out of the forest into the open, breaking out of the oppressive darkness into the far more normal, and familiar, light over the city.
Ida spun back, arm raised in preparation, to watch the shadows under the trees for movement. Everything was still... almost eerily so, but there were no strange tree monsters coming for them, moving in that snake-like way. A moment passed, then another... and slowly Ida relaxed, letting her arm fall back to her side.
"I think... maybe they're gone." She said, frowning at the forest. "Or don't want to come out, which is also fine. I've never seen anything like that before, at least on Earth... not pleased ot see it now."
It seemed like Ida understood why Sonora hadn't gone to say hi during the adventure at the museum, and while she didn't respond verbally, she did flash a relieved smile Ida's way. And, honestly? At least her Princess didn't seem to think she was uncool or annoying or pathetic for having been in such an embarrassingly bad situation tonight.
At least they were getting out of it. When they exited the forest and came into the light, she whirled around, praying that if those monsters came, she still had a little more of her magic, to give them an extra second or two--
But it seemed like they were out of the woods. Literally and metaphorically. She let out a sigh of relief, and lowered her fan, glad that it seemed they'd managed to get out.
"That was....really weird," Sonora acknowledged. "And I don't think they were youma? They didn't have youma-type bad vibes, anyway." Auras, bad vibes, whatever, it really was the same thing. "Thanks for saving me, I really appreciate it. You're just as amazing in person as Kerberos and Murikabushi made you sound."
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2024 9:09 pm
Eyes still on the trees, Ida frowned, but shook her head slowly.
"No... I didn't sense any youma. Granted, youma aren't easy to sense until you're pretty close to them, but still. I feel like we could have felt them, if that's what they'd been. So that leaves... something else." Who knew what else they could be. So many strange things happened in Destiny City that couldn't be explained, and sometimes, they never actually got an explanation for them. Especially around this time of year too. Star Festival always seemed to coincide with some sort of magical event that just brought out all the weirdness and strange phenomena... like somehow all the planets had aligned and flooded the city with wild magic.
At the girl's offer of thanks, Ida finally pulled her attention away from the trees, suppressing the fluster her words gave her.
"Ah, I see now how you knew who I was." She said as she put a smile on to cover her embarrassment at being called 'amazing'. If Sonora knew Kerberos and Muri, and those two had told her about Ida, then of course she would have found it easy to recognize her. Ida wished the pair had told her about this girl, but with everything going on, it had probably just not come up yet. At least she seemed to be doing okay on her own... she was already a squire, which spoke to her competence.
"And you're welcome for the help. I'm glad I was able to find you before something bad happened. Just... lucky to be in the right place at the right time, I suppose." Ida shifted a little, smiling apologetically. "What were you doing out there, if you don't mind me asking? I want to say its probably not safe to be out there alone, but... I guess there are plenty of parts of the city that aren't safe to be in either."
"...Something else," she shook her head. "At least if they were Chaos, that would make sense." Sonora wasn't sure she liked the idea of "something else," some unknown extra magical factor that was animating trees and making them....hungry.
But it wasn't like she could do anything about it, right now. They'd escape,d and she knew the trees were real, and maybe she could offer some comfort to the next person she found who'd run into them. And if she thought about it, she'd definitely run into things that felt magical but weren't clearly from one side or another. Her wisp jumped to mind, and so did Almadel, but there were other things, too.
"Anyway, um. I actually came here looking for those things. My family runs a little shop, and this girl came in, really freaked out by them, and I thought....you know, soul-born magical Knight duty....helping people, stopping evil, all of that? But, um. I was not well equipped." She smiled in a very awkward sort of way. "And I don't really know anyone I can ask to go out with me, not regularly, at least. So I kinda have to hack it alone."
Whimsical Blue
Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2024 9:05 am
Ida glanced back at the trees as she nodded slowly.
"I was just thinking that we should probably keep an eye on them to make sure civilians don't run into them and get hurt... Without knowing what they are or how they got here, I feel like its the best we can do in this circumstance." She offered a tentative smile as she turned back. "Would you like to patrol together? Two people are safer than one, if you don't have someone else to patrol with. And I'd like to get to know you better, if you're up for that. Since we both guard Ida, I think we might run into each other more, both down here and up there."
Ida pointed upwards as she said it, shrugging lightly.
"And if you have any questions, about anything at all, I'd be happy to share what I know. Kerberos and Murikabushi have probably filled you in on a lot already about stuff down here on Earth, but I know a lot about the asteroid that I could share. I would love to hear what your wonder is like. They were all hidden from me before the knights began to awaken, so they're all fascinating hear about."
Honestly, when Sonora had found herself cornered and afraid, with no real way to fight those awful tree monsters, she'd feared that she'd made a massive mistake. For a moment, even, she'd wondered if she was cut out for being a Knight at all.
But clearly, the universe had made sure she was in the right place, at the right time, to meet Ida. So it was all well, in the end.
"That makes sense," Sonora agreed. "And I'd love to patrol with you. We can walk and talk, I'd love to hear about the rest of Ida." It was all a bit of a mystery to her, but here was a chance to get some answers. From the Senshi herself!
How exciting, and how lucky she was, to have that--a Royal she could connect to, and presumably other Knights she would get to work with. It all felt....perfect.
